Railway cattle-guard.



W. GBBHART.

' RAILWAY GATTLLE, GUARD. APPLICATION FILED 1111.11, 1911.

. 1,009,404. Patented 11011.21, 1911.

I I 1 A 2 SHEETS-sum1. ,Zigi

wm m WW .M Wm .5 mm m W P f. w,

I. W 4M w @frei/W" M- UNITED .srAriis`A WILLAMGEBHART, or ieinnicro'lv'r,` MONTANA. 'i

RAILWAY cATm-LngGUAnD.

Tol all whom itmay concern:

Be. it known that? I, `WILL1AM- GEBHART,

a citizen of the United States, residing at' Piedmont, in the county ofJef'ers'onend y State of Montana, have invented certain l new andt useful 'Improvements in Railway Cattfle-Guards,` of which the following is a specification.

Thisfinvention relates 'to railway. cattle guards,v and hasV forv its object the provision of'- a comparatively simple'and tlnroughlyv eflcient ydevice othis: 'chailzacter., thefconstruction of"` which is such as effectually to turn cattle. and other live stock. and thusv prevent. the stock from st'raying along a' railwaytrack or in the path ofy a moving train.-

A further object is to.. provide a cattle guardV including a plurality Vot lindependent sections each providedwith overlappingin'- cli-ned blades having terminal teeth olf-Ser rationsk adaptedy to prick the leg of an animal should the latter'atternpt to Walk along tlietrack at saidl sections; Ay further object'is toform the overlapping' blades Withiinclined" or beveled ends so as to prevent' any projections carried by or depending' from a car, from'catchingl on theA blades and accidentally' displacing: the cattle.'

guard; during the passage'of a train over the track.,

A still furtherobject isgenerally to Iim'- prove this class of' devices rse as to. increase their utility', durability and eifi'ciency.

Witli'tliese and other objects in View," as will more fullyy appear as` the; description proceeds, the inventionconsistsA ofcert'ain constrnctions,j arrangements and eoI'nbi'naL tions-ofthe parts/that I shally hereinafter rfully describe andlclai'in. K'

For' a full nnderstandingfofthe haventiemv reference is togbe, had to the following' de Fignrel' is a toplpllanvfiew of' al cattle' i] gnardeonst'rncted in accordance Withfm' "fTh invention shwing'the saniein position dna' 4 Y Y i' voidf of teeth-f or; senatin 16, While tljievv opposite endplale ofeaclr 'sec-` t'ion is' benty inwardly at., l?? softhatA when railwayttrack.' Fig-f2; i's a transverse secon the line 4 4 ofyFig. 2*.

Specification of'Letters'Patent. 11311319.1111;'ed N0va211911;v`ll VV Application marrebuary 11, 1911. serial No. 608,063, .l

specti'vej view of oneV of theen'd 'braces de-" ltached,A showing the construction of theater Itacbing ears. v if@ Correspondingand like parts gremferred. to inA the following' description and indi-17S cated allthe views of the"acc'ompanying 't drawing'sfbythe same reference characters@ #Il The improved eattl'eguard forming the? subie'ct-,Inatter of the .presenti invent-ion, isfy especially designedfjfor use :along railway" tracks', and by Wayef illustration is shown* in connection with a section oftrack ofthe' f ordinary construction in ywhich 5l designates the crossftjies ,and'k the rails.'

secticins", twoof 4which are secured `rtothe: :cross tiesbetvveen the rails 6, there being a single Section arrangedo'n. the outside of eaeliiaill and prei"erably'A disposed in aline-.1` "ment Wilt-liV the intemnediateff: Asections 'a'sf i. .65 The guard "s preferablylforxned infour shown.` Eachlsection ispreferably'formedz of" a :plnrality of; inclined blades l veach y having' one end thereofbent upwardly'in ai 'vertical' 'plane at`8, and thence bent later# f ally to forni an attaching l-l'ip i9 for engages' ment:`v with .the lower face of' the; adjacent: blade andto Whichit is secured 'by'bolts "'fyl rivets orsimi'lfar fastening devices 10. The,v 'bladesI 7 .are held rigidly-in-y assembled 'po-v siton by agzlurality of transverse braces 1-1-v1 preferably ,-orr'nedf of metal and'having their to theadjacefnt blgadesfv The .intermediate j portion of. each, inclined-blade 7 istlattened at andrigidlyseeured to. theV adjacent brace.v 'lll by'bolt'sfor rivets 14,. there-.beingprefer-v. "ablyr for'o-f such' `bracestjo each section"v of'.l

the` cattle. guard".` Theforward lnf f'itudinal] serratedte. producen; pluralitly of' 'spnrsor v'terminal' portions; bent ilpwardly to `produce. s

edgesA of some. of the.l blades 7' areprefeably. f

"teeth adapted topck thev eg ofjan. ani:- from ate,

the inner sections of the guard are assembled between the rails 6. the toothless edge 16 of one section will overlap the inclined face 17 of the mating section and thus form a continuous transverse barrier to the passage of live stock. -,lf-.ul It will here be noted that the attaching lip 18 of the forward flange 12 'is spaced inwardly from the smooth longitudinal dge 16 of the adjacent inclined blades 7, so (that the edge 16 may be. bent laterally to conform to the inclination of the face 17 of an adjacent section, thus to permit said edge 16 to be properly spaced with respect to the adjacent rails 6. It Will also be noted that by arranging the inclined blades 7 in this manner, a series of substantially triangular shaped pockets 19 will be produced,

said pockets opening through the bottom ot" the guard. The oppositeends of each blade 7 are inclined or beveled at 20 so as to prevent, anyobstruction carried by or depending from a car, from catching on the endsV of the blade and displacing the guard sec`- tions as the train travels over said sections- Theend braces or-bars 11 are preferably ystamped or otherwise formed with spaced vis provided With'oppositely disposed later ally extending fingers 22 which bear against the outer faces of the adjacent inclined blades 7 and to which they are permanently secured by bolts or rivets'23. The blades 2l not only form closures for the pockets 19 and serve to reinforce the guardsections,

but also prevent the entrance of rain or.

snow beneath the guard sections and presentv a smooth bearing surface at the end ot' each inclined blade. Each guard section 1s pierced by one or more openings for the reception of spikes 24, the latter being driven into the adjacent cross ties 5 so as to retain the guard sections in position on the railway track.

Thus it will -be seen that should an animal step on any one of the inclined blades 7, the hoof of said animal will ,slide downwardly in the direction of the -vertical portion 8 ot' said blade, thus causing the leg of the animal to time in contact with the teeth or spurs 15, with the result that the animal will immediately leave the track. It will of course be understood that the sections may be made in different sizes and shapes and provided with any number of inclined blades, without departing from the spirit of the invention. Y

'Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A cattle guard including a plurality of inclined blades having their upper ends connected and their lower ends spaced apart to form intermediate pockets, the opposite ends of said blades being beveled and end plates bearing against the beveled ends of the blades and forming closures for the pockets, said end plates being provided with oppositely disposed attaching lingers for engagement with the adjacent inclined blades.

2. A cattle guard including a plurality of overlapping inclined blades some of which are provided with teeth, all of said blades having their opposite ends beveled and braces connecting-the inclined blades and provided with spaced upstanding end plates engaging the beveled ends of the blades and provided vwith attaching, fingers for engagement with the adjacent faces .of the blades.

3. A cattle guard including a plurality of inclined blades having their upper edges connected and their lower edges spaced apart to form'intermediate pockets, terminal and intermediate'braces secured to the blades, the Iopposite ends of 'said blades be- .ing beveled, and spaced end plates carried by the terminal braces and provided with spaced oppositely -disposedjatt'achin'g lii'igers" bearing against-theinclined blades at the beveled ends thereof.

4. A cattle guard ,inchiding' a. plurality of .spaced inclined overlappingblades, some of which have their longitudiilal edges serrated toform teeth, the opposite ends of said blades being beveled and' spaced apart to"form intermediate pockets and'end plates bearing against the beveled' ends of the bladesV and forming closures forj said pockets, said end plates being provided with oppositely disposed attachinglingcrs for engagement with theadjacent inclined blades. 5. A cattle guard'including a plurality of ,overlapping inclined blades, some of whichA are provided with smooth longitudinal edges, and others with teeth, a plurality ofspaced braces connecting'said blades, one

end of 'cach brace being secured to the lower 'face of the blade having the smooth edge, und terminating short of said smooth edge, the opposite ends of the inclined blades being beveled, the braces at the opposite ends of the blades beingbent upwardly to-produce, spaced plates for having oppositely dis! posed attaching lingers for engagement with the adjacent inclined blades at the beveled .c

ends thereof.

6. A cattle guard including a plurality ofl 'posite ends of the blades being beveled, and In testimony -Whereof, I aix my signaem l[plates carried br1 smelot tha bxfaces ture in presence of two witnesses.

an earing against 't e eve e en s o the adjacent blades to form elosures for the WILLIAM GEBHART [L' s'] pockets, each end plate being provided with Witnesses:

oppositely disposed attaching fingers adapt- WILLIAM J. DEvINE,

ed to embrace the adjacent inclined blades,V PETAR DIMITROFF. 

